Social Media Guide for Business Part 4 of 5

LinkedIn

Continued from Social Media Guide for Business Part 3 – LinkedIn is generally mis-categorized as just a human resource professional’s and job seeker’s dream. LinkedIn is after all the world’s biggest professional network boasting over 120 million members and still growing. LinkedIn is much more than a job seekers platform it provides you the opportunity to manage your business brand and personal online identity. If you have not Googled yourself or your business recently – you should! You maybe surprised by what appears in search results. A completed LinkedIn profile will generally rise to the top of search results, allowing you to manage the first impression people get when searching for you or your business online.

LinkedIn Connections

In today’s digital world, professionals change positions and locations regularly. By using LinkedIn to connect, your contact information will always be up to date. When your contacts update their profiles, you will automatically be kept updated. You will stay in close contact and have great tools to communicate and collaborate. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and business opportunities with a broader network of professionals.

Using LinkedIn to Grow Your Business

While it initially appears as a great tool for finding a job (or finding someone to hire), the popularity of LinkedIn has also increased its effectiveness and made it a great tool when it comes to growing your business! LinkedIn is essentially a Facebook for professionals. Your friends are called “connections,” and you can write statuses, import your blog, and post information about yourself. They’ve also added a feature to include your Business/Company Profile, too. As with any social media site, LinkedIn provides a great opportunity to promote your business online. By creating a profile using your keywords, you can draw even more attention to yourself and your business. Plus, it’s another way to link your website, increasing optimization.
By linking up with your professional network and contacts, you can advance your business. It is beneficial to optimize your existing personal profile by adding some key words so searchers can find you. Your other social media profiles will also be connected. You should also create and/or optimize your Company Profile.

Setting up Your Company on LinkedIn

It is very simple to add a Company Page on LinkedIn you need your company name and an email address for the company. You need to be an owner/employee of the company to start a company page. As you work through the process of setting up your company page you will complete the following sections:

Overview

The Overview Tab is your opportunity to place an explanation and introduction for your Company. This area helps you spread your message and promoting your brand through conversation.

What will other LinkedIn users see?

An Overview of your Company

Posts from your company on a variety of topics; ranging from company announcements to product releases to industry news.

Friends & colleagues who are connected to the business.

Products and Services

This is where prospective customers on LinkedIn can review your Company’s products or services. Providing an online window into your Company.

What will other LinkedIn users see?

An outline of your Company products & services.

Recommendations of you and your Company from other LinkedIn users.

Connections to the members making the recommendations.

Careers – Finding Employees(Requires a paid subscription.)

Your LinkedIn Company Pages allows you the opportunity to interact with millions of potential job seekers.

When you post a job on LinkedIn it will appear in this section.

There is ample opportunity to promote your Company and your brand.

There are Silver and Gold options which allow different content levels.

Prices vary depending on location and are usually around $200 for 30 days.

The bottom line is that if you are not on LinkedIn and/or not using it to its full potential you are probably missing out on new business and quality employees. If you need assistance with LinkedIn or are interested in more information contact Turn The Page Online Marketing.